‘I saw blood coming from her mouth’

Glass found in Subway sub

(PETERBOROUGH) Laura Clark says someone has to be accountable after she allegedly found pieces of broken glass in her three-year-old daughter’s turkey sub.
Mrs. Clark says she and her daughter Aubrey were eating subs at the Chemong Road Subway location on Jan. 17 when she noticed blood coming from her child’s mouth.
“She began crying and when I looked at her I saw blood coming from her mouth,” explains Mrs. Clark.
“She had two cuts on the roof of her mouth -- one on the left cheek and one on her tongue.”
Mrs. Clark says she counted seven pieces of glass in the sub, which just had lettuce on it.
“The biggest piece we found was about the size of my pinky nail,” she notes.
Aubrey was taken to the hospital where doctors told Mrs. Clark to watch her daughter’s bowel movement for the next 24 hours.
“Almost to the hour, she passed two pieces of glass as well as blood in her stool,” Mrs. Clark says.
The incident was reported to the Peterborough County-City Health Unit the day it happened and an investigation took place the following day, according to Atul Jain, manager of inspection services with the health unit.
“It was determined that most likely it could be the lettuce,” he explains, adding the incident has been handed over to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
“The lettuce comes from a supplier and comes under the Canadian Food Inspection Agency jurisdiction to follow up with whatever supplier it is because potentially that product could have a foreign substance in it.”
He says the current stock of lettuce at the store was taken off the shelves, and signed and sealed in boxes by the inspector.
“We did another routine inspection and everything was OK with no food safety issues. The place is safe to eat,” he explains.
John Blake, owner of the Chemong Road Subway franchise, would not speak to the issue, explaining that all comments had to come from Mike Lopez at Subway’s corporate office in Minden. Mr. Lopez was not available for comment before This Week’s print deadline, but did send a statement late Tuesday night through e-mail.
"In regards to the customer that found a foreign object in a sandwich that was purchased at a local Subway, we want to assure you that food safety and the health and well-being of our customers is of paramount importance at every Subway restaurant and we take all such concerns very seriously. We are aware of the customer concern regarding a possible foreign object found in a sandwich. As soon as the restaurant owner learned of the issue, the proper parties were contacted, an investigation was begun, and the customer has been contacted,” he stated.
Although she did receive a sincere apology from Sarah Blake, John’s daughter and business partner, on the day it happened, Mrs. Clark says she has been getting the run-around from Subway’s head office.
“They aren’t returning any of our calls,” she explains
“What is most maddening is there’s nothing being done on Subway’s part. I want to see that Subway is doing something on their end to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.”
As for Aubrey, Mrs. Clark says they have to wait for a month and make sure all the glass has passed through her system. If she passes any blood, runs a fever or complains of stomach pain, doctors advised Mrs. Clark to take Aubrey back to the hospital.
“At that point they would have to make an incision and go through to see if there’s any remaining glass,” she explains.
“She seems to be good spirits at the moment and we’re just hopeful that she has passed it all.”
tvandonk@mykawartha.com